With advancements in telecommunications, remote photography utilizing electronic remote devices becomes increasingly desirable. A person often finds a scene interesting or a moment worth remembering, only to discover that either no camera is available to capture the image or he/she is not in the best position to take the picture. Similarly, during a sports event, an audience typically is unable to take the best picture of the game from a distance seat using a personal camera. In addition, a party in a teleconference environment who wants to keep a photograph of another party will realize that low resolution video transmission typically cannot generate high resolution pictures.
Remote photography is currently available in limited circumstances. For example, theme parks normally provide electronic photography systems for capturing images of customers participating in rides or events with digital cameras. The images are later sent to the customers through a network after verification of customer information and/or payment information. However, the electronic photography systems only randomly take pictures of the customers, i.e., the customers have no active control over the digital cameras regarding either timing or more advanced features, such as zooming. In addition, the customers cannot preview any live-video before the image acquisition.